Lost in the Fire

[Swift]

Hey everyone, this is my work-in-progress story about my two RP characters, Rynk and Avelyn. I've put a lot of effort into them over the time I've been roleplaying, and to further explain what they both go through, and the challenges they faced in the past to get up to "the present." So far I've been real successful portraying them in threads, and I hope I'm able to do the same here too ;D
A neat thing I'm planning on doing with this story is that because the characters travel between threads (or dimentions in their case) without changing their backstories and such, is that (with permission) I use the plots they went through in the threads to appear in the story. I haven't gotten to the point where they enter the first "dimention" I got aproved for it way back when yet, but I'm trying to make sure that happens pretty soon.

Enjoy, and may the Xynth bless your path =P

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(\+~-Lost in the Fire-~+/)



Prologue

Stories are magical things. They teach the lessons learned by the young, and bring wisdom to the old. They are everlasting; never-ending in the rift of time. They are carried by tongue and pen to the hearts of all who hear them. Stories can bring fame to the virtuous, or smite to evil. Nevertheless, they are all important to life as we know it. One such story stands out among the others. One that has never been told before, yet it lingers in the thoughts of all life; the tale of love and anger, of defeat and of victory, of life and purpose.
This… this is that story.

Many and many ages ago, the world was a civilized place. Although it had cost the price of blood and tears, peace had been restored to the land. The peoples who inhabited the planet worked through their lives under their rulers without much fuss. Slavery was no longer a way of life, and all seemed well. But after an emperor fell ill in an empire on the edge of the planet, a new ruler was put in his place as he slowly passed from his life; a ruler with unimaginable desires…
With his high power, he unleashed a veil of darkness over the world. The blood and tears of the past were brought back. Kingdoms, Dynasties, Empires, fell to his unstoppable onslaught, and soon, he was very close to controlling the world. But he soon found, that his dream was not unrivaled. His half brother sought the same power, and they were running out of space before they would collide. The armies of both sides of the planet, poised to endure what was to be the bloodiest battle in the history of the small planet, or any planet in the matter. The clouds of soldiers and horses approached one another, closer… closer… until something legendary happened: One very young girl stood between them; arms held out. The massive armies suddenly stopped, only feet from engaging each other. They stood, transfixed, confused, and listened to the girl’s words of wisdom. She told them the horrors of their deeds that they have not even realized. She told them stories of fear, of pain, of agony, that made the hearts of all the soldiers run cold. The tears flowing in her eyes stopped the blood flowing on the swords, and the demons were lifted from their hearts. The world stopped crying, and peace was restored. But the evil that had torn the land apart still left its ugly scar on the people. Fear was a way of life now, and it had its impact on everyone. But, life was, nevertheless, better now. As for the girl, she grew up, speaking about the world. She took no advantage of her renown, and lived like any other girl at the time. She grew up, kept herself decent, and later married. She then gave birth to two children; a boy, and a girl. This is where their story begins…

“So, what shall we name them?” his mother said. “Well, I don’t know. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?” his father replied. “It’s ok. We’ll think it over together.” “Alright, well, I noticed the boy’s birthmark…”
”The one on his arm?”
” Yes. It looks like a sword, doesn’t it?”
”Yes, that it does. Is there something you’re getting at?”
”Well, I thought just that, we could name him—“
Someone screamed as a sword was thrust through his heart. Bandits had found the villager’s defenseless home. Without a soldier or guard to protect it, the village was looted, and the people were slain. Only a few managed to escape, but the feeble boned and unhealthy were not so lucky. After it was all over, and the dust had settled. A lone infant was left, crying for his parents; they did not answer him. Across the small dirt road, a few planks shifted over a man who had been trapped in the wreckage. He managed to climb out, and found the boy, who he took as his own. The man was an old soldier of one of the great armies, and he raised the boy and taught him how to defend himself. The boy grew up, without any knowledge of his parents… or his lone sibling. All he had was that man. He was his school, his home, his family, his life. But once the boy reached early adulthood, the man fell deathly ill. The boy did all he could: Brought him food, water, and crude medicine. But, it was not enough. The man was on his death bed, and giving his last words to the boy…
”Son… come here.” He said, making the boy instantly turn around from his medicine making to see him.
”Yes, father?”
”I love you, very, very much. But… there is something I have to tell you.”
The boy looked confused, and he opened his mind to the man.
”All your life, I have lied to you…”
”But, father! What do you mean?”
He looked back at the boy with the saddest face he had ever seen, “I’m not your father. Your real father and your mother died in the most terrible way…” The boy looked at him, speechless. He had so many questions, yet, he could not bear to ask. “Your mother… she was no ordinary woman.” He coughed, “she was legendary, yet thought of it as nothing. She stopped the wars, boy.” He coughed in a never ending storm of wheezes. The confused boy rushed to get him water. “And your father… he was a noble man. He loved your mother and you very much. Always a man of his word, and he cared for everyone around him with as much love as he had for you.” The boy returned with a bowl of water and helped the man drink it down. “And… your sister; she was born just after you. Her eyes were the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. But….” The boy looked very concerned, “but what, father?” The man coughed again. “But, I… I do not know what happened to her. After our village was attacked by bandits, she was not there with your parents. Only you and I were spared.” The boy’s eyes were moved to tears… he could stand no more. “But why, father? Why have you kept these things a secret? Why tell me now?” “Son, that is not important now. I know…” he chocked, “that these are my final words, so listen well… I had taught you the ways of a soldier; How to kill, how to survive. But, listen. That is not what these skills are used for. You… my boy… will become a virtuous hero. I’m certain you will. Venture out, not for renown, but to protect. To aid, to help, to save. Give the world your name, but make sure it is your own, and not something you have become. Your sister may still be alive, Rynk, I do not know. But please, as my last request on this world. Please search for her, it will make me happy…” he grinned weakly, “I… love you…. my… boy…” the man’s pulse left him, and his soul drifted into paradise, where the boy’s parents waited for him, and gave him thanks. Rynk’s eyes swelled up, but did not unleash his sorrow. He was glad that his father was in a better place now, but he hated to see him go. “I love you too… father…” He buried his body, and then slept for one last time in the safety of his home. As dawn creaked in through the door, his father’s weapons found themselves in the sheaths on the boy’s body. With a simple blade, on his back, and twin daggers at his side, he set out on his life’s adventure. He would save the world from its sins, and unlock the key to his forgotten past. As his feet carried him off to his destiny, the words of the man kept repeating in his mind. He did not want revenge on his parent’s murderers, or pity from anyone who knows his story. He wanted to help his people, to stop the evil in the world… to see his sister. His adventure had just begun…


Chapter One:
Where the Wind Blows.



Alzylent was a small, peaceful kingdom on the south-west corner of one of the great continents. It had served many years to its allies during the horrible wars in the past. Located on the center of a dry, canyon-like environment, they felt safe and secluded from the troubles and hardships endured by the neighboring kingdoms. Trade was good, many people lived decent lives, and the rulers used their powers to benefit the people, rather than themselves. It was here that the boy had been born and raised after his parents’ deaths, and there was possibly no better spot in the world for it to have occurred.

“Hey, watch it kid!” scolded a large man as he almost dropped a heavy crate. Rynk had entered a busy town to rest from his straight week of walking on open roads with nothing but the sky and the birds singing in the trees to talk to him. “I’m sorry, sir.” Rynk replied to the man he had run into. The man frowned angrily, “Yeah, you should be; watch where you’re going next time!” he bellowed as he stomped off. Rynk, feeling a little frustrated, looked to the ground with a sigh, noticing a small bag of change on the ground. Picking it up, he untied the rope around its closed opening, and examined the contents. There were several coins inside of it. More than enough to buy a meal or two, he noted as his stomach growled.
Without a second though, he puts the money back into the bag, and ran after the angry man, tapping him on the shoulder as he turned around with a look of annoyance. “What do you want?!” he reported hotly. Rynk looked up at him with his neutral face, holding out his money bag, “You dropped this. I’m sure you didn’t want to lose it?” With a small look of shock on his face, he sat the crate down, and snatched the bag from his hands, securing it onto his belt quickly. Without any thing else said, he turned, lifted the box, and continued down the street… until he stopped for a moment, and turned his shoulder with his rough voice, “Thanks.”

Rynk had grown into a young, yet responsible adult, being that he was now upon this world for fifteen years. His teacher was sure to teach him how to behave and how to act around people; no matter who they were. It was his intention that Rynk would grow up to be virtuous, rather than seek out cold-hearted revenge for the murder of parents; there was already enough evil in the world.
Argiri was his name. He was an old veteran of the “Shadow Wars,” which is what most people called the planet’s civil wars, anyways. The man had served valiantly for his nation’s banner, pledging his allegiance until a very tragic incident pulled him away from the life of the blade. In a large battle that was supposed to end the war sooner than it did, he and a small group of other soldiers were ordered to eliminate an enemy convoy trying to bring supplies to their allies. In all his time in the military, he had not expected anything as such as what happened that day. The convoy was run completely by women and children, as all the males were part of the main force battling towards his kingdom’s borders. Unable to discontinue the attack, Argiri watched in horror as the convoy was slaughtered almost instantly; the blood of non-combatants staining the blades of what was supposed to be a righteous cause.
Upon returning to the main force, Rynk’s teacher was severely wounded by a ballista what tore through a concrete wall nearby. Argiri was bombarded with debris and large chunks of stone, breaking both his right arm and leg, and several in his rib cage. The Alzylentians were defeated in the battle, and forced to retreat soon after. Argiri was rescued by a fellow soldier while the large army retreated reluctantly, and brought to the kingdom’s main infirmary. It was there that he stayed for several months while he miraculously recovered from his injuries. However, when asked to rejoin the front lines, he declined abruptly; he made a vow to himself to never again follow the ways of the sword after what happened that day…

Rynk continued wandering through the busy streets of the city made of gray blocks of stone and mortar. Weaving through the people still, he made his way towards a small, yet busy port on the edge of a coastline. As he entered, staring around with curious eyes as if he had never been there before, a sailor waved and walked towards him with a smile on his face, “’Ey! Rynk! O’er here!” the man, seemingly in his late thirties called to him. The boy moved toward his teacher’s old friend whom was donned in a white shirt with a blue collar, and black trousers. “Bless be the morning, Bazek.” Rynk replied to him with a smile. The old sailor placed his hands on the boy’s shoulder and grinned, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, boy. You’ve grown up pretty strong, haven’t ‘ya?”
Rynk looked down with a bit of embarrassment in his cheeks, unable to reply to such a question. Nodding, still with a glee in his voice, the sailor brought Rynk along, “Well, c’mon then. We’ll be heading to Dakar pretty soon; Go’n to be a pretty long voyage, but I’ never seen the sea so peaceful ‘n all ‘ma years.”
Bazek was an old friend of Argiri’s. Though he wasn’t as educated as Rynk’s former teacher, he had an unrivaled love for the sea. Bazek has scruffy blonde hair and a facial hair as if it hadn’t been bothered to shave. He was slightly muscular, stronger than Rynk was at least, and had a very broad chin. The old sailor had been slowing down though due to his age, but always kept the same good and young spirit inside of him that he’s always had. He owned one boat, which he had used to deliver troops and supplies to the allied cause during the Shadow Wars, called the Lady Mermadoneh. It was fairly large, but small enough to be easily maneuverable in the rough waters of a storm.
As a favor, Bazek had agreed to allow Rynk to ride towards Dakar, a small outpost on the other side of the Escalade Sea; the name of the very large gulf between the top and bottom section of the Great Continent that Alzylent rested on. Once there, Rynk was to begin his search for his missing sister, and there was no better spot to either. It was a very large place, though not considered a city only for the fact that more than half of the housings are used for trading, and crafting instead of homes. It was the center of trade in that direct area of neighboring kingdoms, with the largest selection of equipment, food, and other supplies that would come in handy for his long journey.
Bazek pushed open a door in the cabin of the ship, revealing a small, but comfortable bunk room; bunks, of course, where beds that hung on the wall, one other the other as to save space, for the crew of the ship to sleep in. For now, there was a girl, about Rynk’s same age, sitting on top of one of them, staring down a Rynk with a grin, kicking her feet playfully. “Ah, ‘ere you are, Tasha. I’ve been wondering ‘ere you went.” Bazek said kindly to her, and then turning back to Rynk, “This’ll be where you’ll be bunkin’, Rynk. Oh, and I almost forgot, this is Tasha; you’ll be in the bunk under hers.”
“Nice to meet you,” Rynk said, holding his hand out to the girl whom had hopped down from her bed. She grinned, and shook his hand, “Nice to meet you as well. So, it’s Rynk, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” Rynk said, with a grin after he released her hand. Though, as soon as he got a chance to look at her directly, he realized that she wasn’t just any normal girl. At first, she resembled one, having brown hair like his that tapered off below her shoulders in the back and to her eyes in the front, green eyes, and a small, simple nose. She wore a vest laced up in the front that stopped at where her trousers began. They were black in color and some-what tight as it traveled down and tucked into her sailor’s boots. Though, what was very different about her was that her ears consisted of cat-like protrusions from the top sides of her head, and she had a thin, brown tail that swayed playfully behind her out of a hole cut in the back of her trousers.

“Ah! Do you know how much Bazek has been talking about you? Oh, and I’m sorry about your loss.” Tasha went on to say. Rynk nodded, “Thanks.”
Before they could say anymore, the old sailor interjected, “Alright! Well, you two better get ready for departure. We’ll be leaving any minute now.”
“Yes sir.” The two children replied in unison.

All the crewmen boarded the ship, strapping down crates or moving them to a storage area, and getting ready to ship out from the busy port into the quiet sea. The sun was reaching a 45 degree angle with the sky; it was almost afternoon. Finally, after everything was in place, the three giant sails on the ship opened up, catching the gentle ocean breeze, and began moving it out of the port. Rynk stood at the side of the boat as it pulled away, staring back as his home disappeared and gradually became smaller, until it was covered over by the mist of the open waters…

[Swift]

Chapter Two:
A Dream in the Waves.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Tasha said in a voice of wonderment as she stood next to Rynk, gazing out at the countless waves off the ends of the boat. Nodding, the boy turned an eye to his right to meet the girl’s, whose tail was gently swaying behind her, “Yeah. I’ve never been this far out in the sea before.”
“You haven’t?”
“Nope.”
Tasha grinned, “Then I’ve got so much to show you then. Just wait until sunset, you won’t believe it!” Rynk could only grin without a thought of what he might witness.

The boat bobbed up and down as it continued on its peaceful voyage. It was so quiet out there apart from the happening of a creak of wood or a chat between sailor hands that happened every so often. Though, as peaceful as it was, Rynk always brought his silence thoughts back to his teacher and his home. Argiri’s final words continued to spur inside of his mind, seeming to dig into the cortex of his brain to remain there permanently. It just seemed like it should have never happened…
“Hey, Tasha!” an older voice called out from behind them. Both teens turned their heads at the same time, looking towards a man with spectacles motioning for them. The cat-girl ran towards him with a grin with Rynk following behind in curiousness. The man, in his twenties at first glance wrapped his arms around Tasha as she collided with him in an embrace, “Hey Uncle Tylon!” she exclaimed, holding him close. The man grinned in embarrassment, “Now, now. You know I’m not your uncle, ha-ha. Anyways, who’s your friend, Tasha?”
The girl removed herself from around the man with glasses and motioned towards Rynk who had followed her, “Oh, that’s Rynk. He’s Argiri’s boy.”
“That so? I’m sorry for your loss, Rynk. He was a great man; Bazek has been talking about him ever since,” the man explained with a lessening smile on his face. Rynk nodded in gratitude as Tylon looked back at the girl, “Well, would you two mind coming with me for a moment? I could use a couple of youthful minds for help with a puzzle that recently came up.” Tasha’s eyes lit up, “Sure! C’mon, Rynk!” she exclaimed, grabbing hold of his wrist and pulling him along cheerfully down a flight of stairs leading underneath the deck of the ship. Opening a small wooden door, Tylon led them into a navigator’s room. There was a large study desk with many a parchment laid out a across it, a simple bed, a globe of the world, and posters of many maps pinned to the walls, streaming around almost like wallpaper. The navigator picked up a multi-colored block laying on the desk and presented it to the two young-lings. “I recently got this from one of my relatives. He calls it a ‘Rudium Cube’ and supposedly is supposed to be a VERY difficult puzzle.” he said with a grimace as he fooled around with it, twisting the rows and columns of the cube in a way that made it look impossible. “Argh! Blasted thing!” he interjected, giving up, “You’re supposed to be able to get all the colors to match up again, but it just doesn’t seem possible the way he did it.”
Tasha threw up her hand, “May I try?” Her ‘uncle’ grinned, “Of course. Here.”
The cat-like girl began twisting the cube around, staring hard at it. She tried it for several minutes, but eventually gave up and handed it to Rynk with a cute smile, “Here, you try.”
Taking the cube into his hands, Rynk stared at it for a moment without doing anything. Then, making several quick twists and rotations, the sides began to match up, until eventually the puzzle was finished; he handed it back to Tylon who watched in amazement, “H-How did you do that?” he said, not believing what just happens. The boy just shrugged and replied with, “I don’t know. I guessed, really.” The man couldn’t help but pat him on the shoulder with a fatherly look, “Heh, you’re just as smart as Bazek said you were. Well, that’s all I needed you two scamps ‘fer. I’m going to write a letter back to my relative, telling him that his ‘master puzzle’ was solved but a boy three times as young as he, ha!”

The two teens returned back on deck with Tasha waving her tail curiously still trying to ask Rynk how he had solved the puzzle so quickly, though, he always replied the same way as before, “I guessed.”
Reluctantly, Tasha finally gave up in asking him his secret; maybe he was telling the truth after all? She looked up at the blue sky over their heads. The clouds, the sun, the air… it was all so peaceful way out at sea, as if you had left the planet and now traveled in another that was unpopulated and free. Tasha was always fascinated with the sky. She would dream that the whole world could be as peaceful as the deep blue behind the pure clouds that floated around the world endlessly, as if looking for someone they loved. War had left a scar on the surface of the world now, and it would never be the same afterwards, and it was just a simple fact of life that she and the rest of the people of the world would just have to accept it at reality. Though, dreams were also a part of life. They were the hopes and wants of many people that they would do anything to achieve. Only… now it seemed that the dreams she had could never be true because of the way mortals were. Anger filled the hearts of many, just as love filters through the atmosphere like the air they all breathed.
Returning to the side of the ship, the two friends gazed out at the waves once again, both acknowledging how beautiful nature was when war had not torn though it.
“Hey… Rynk?” Tasha said quietly to him, as if trying to keep the conversation discrete. The boy turned his head to her, snapping out of the transfixion that the ocean laid in his eyes, “Hm?”
The sailor girl smiled gently, with her brown tail swaying behind her, “Don’t you wish the whole world could be as… perfect as this?” Rynk nodded with a small grin of his own, “It would be like a dream. No more killing, no more anger… just love. No one would ever have to suffer anymore, and we could all live peacefully, forever.”

Rynk found himself thrown against Tasha, but not because he did it himself. A section of the side of the ship was blown into wooden fragments, sending splinters and dust everywhere like a mass of hornets. “Pirates!” someone managed to scream, setting off a panic between everyone onboard the ship. Small-arms fire could be heard in the distance as a second ship sailed up next to them, preparing another barrage of cannons to be shot. Another explosion, another earthquake, more screams.
“Rynk!” the cat-girl called out, trying to climb to her feet after the boy rolled off of her, “C’mon! We have to hurry!” Tasha grabbed hold of his arm, and directed him towards the cabin of the ship. The two made a run for it, but just as they reached the door, a large man with a cutlass burst out of it with a roar. He wore very scruffy clothes, and seemed to be battle hardened and unfeeling for harming anything. He must have entered into their ship from a whole blasted into the side of it by the cannons of the enemy ship. Rynk and Tasha took a step back in fear for a moment as the pirate raised his blade to cut them both down in one, clean strike. With an evil laugh, he brought the sword sideways into the two teens as the girl shut her eyes together in brace for her sudden end. Though, the sound of metal clashing opened her green eyes to see Rynk with a set of daggers in hand, holding back the blade that was to kill them both. She looked in awe, but fear at the same time, not knowing what to do at the instant.
“What?!” the pirate exclaimed as he backed off to attack again. Though, before he could even do such a thing, he received a deep wound across the side of his face, and then slam of the sole of Rynk’s boot into his nose, sending him into unconsciousness. It was the first time Rynk had ever harmed a real person with his fighting skill. He had only previously used it to hunt for food while his teacher was ill, or practiced on dummies for his training. He quickly put the daggers away, and shook his friend out of transfixion. Tasha nodded, and sprinted with him down to the bottom of the stairs. They both ducted into a small closet together, listening to the screams and clashes of blades up on deck, too scared for hope, too hoping to be scared… Tasha pressed herself against Rynk’s chest for comfort. It wasn’t that she felt a loving connection with him, but she wanted to suppress her fear. She wanted someone to be able to tell her everything would be okay, that it would all just end like nothing had ever happened in the first place. Rynk knew of humanistic emotions that drove people to certain things, as he was no exception to such things. He placed a comforting arm around the girl’s back, and stared at the door to the room they were hiding in with firm, brown eyes.

“Tasha!” a voice in the hallway called, “Tasha! …Tasha!”
“Uncle Tylon!” the cat-girl cried, relieving herself from Rynk’s small embrace and throwing open the door to their hiding place. She quickly found herself in his arms, holding each other close in the desperate situation. Rynk pushed his way out of the door way as well, and looked around quickly for another room they could all hide in, “Hey! Over here! We can hide in--!”
Before he could even finish speaking, another cannon blast came through the wall in the hallway there were standing in. There was no scream, there was no blood, only the deafening blast that resulted out of it. When Rynk opened his eyes a few moments later after regaining consciousness, he found himself astray in the cold ocean water upon a piece of debris. The ship they had sailed on was gone, sunk to the bottom of the water with everyone that had been on it. The pirate ship sailed away with their stolen treasures in the opposite direction that the lost boy was floating helplessly in. The only thing left of his friends, and his hopes of arriving at the outpost safely… was the Rudium Cube that floated simplistically in the waves of the ocean in front of him….

[Swift]

Chapter Three:
Bowman’s Arrow.

Why wasn’t he dead? Why had death seemingly missed its target, hitting the innocents behind him?
…he didn’t want to be alive anymore. He despised death’s inaccuracy, wishing it would have been him instead of Tasha and Tylon.
Why wasn’t he dead?
Rynk continued to hold onto the small, splintered wreck of the ship. His hands held onto the edge of the float with his chest pulled up upon it, and his legs dangling limply in the freezing ocean underneath him. In every direction, there was nothing but the light blue highlight of water on the horizon shrouded in the great mist that filled the air. Perhaps death was preparing to lock onto its intended target once again.
The boy’s stomach growled; it had been at least three hours now that he was drifting alone with nothing to talk to but himself. In all his fifteen years, he had never thought to have been so hungry as he was now, and it was only getting worse. He couldn’t tell what direction he was going, as the wind over the water seemed to blow in different directions each time, and there was nothing but the same pattern of blue-green waves making his raft rise and fall as if he were riding on the back of a bird. Rynk had to stay awake. He knew that if he fell asleep, it would basically be asking for death to take him away. He no longer wished he would follow behind Tasha and the others into the sky, he knew that his life couldn’t just end like this, because there was so much he felt he could do still. However, he soon found it much easier to stay away now, as he felt a startling shift of movement underneath of him. “Wylets… they’re afraid…” he mumbled to himself after the passing of a school of fish brush against his drooping legs. The deep brown eyes of the boy looked up ahead of him, but saw nothing. He changed direction; looked left. Nothing. Again, behind him… nothing, then nothing again as he fulfilled the three hundred, sixty degree scan for the source of the trouble.
Suddenly, there was a faint crashing of waves in the distance. Land! He quickly turned his head in the direction he was hearing it, but his grin quickly turned to a shudder of fear. There was a huge fin of a very large animal traveling towards him like a razor blade, cutting away the water and throwing its dismantled white foam behind it. Rynk tried to kick, but his attempt were useless, as the current in the ocean and his weak, wet, limbs couldn’t even move him nearly fast enough. Each moment the fin drew closer, and his eyes grew larger in panic. Rynk continued to kick and kick and kick, but nothing was happening. It was if humans were not able to swim at all due to their shape and build. Another large shape emerged from the water ahead of the fin. It was just one, very large gray blob of smooth, wet flesh at first, but as it continued to rise out of the water, razor sharp teeth and the bottom of a throat were exposed from underneath it. Now the creature was moving even faster that it had been before, seemingly sending earth quakes through the rifts of water, splashing the stinging salt of the sea into Rynk’s eyes. Death was there. Death was just laughing at him, ready to tear his soul away from his frail body and never again let him see the light of day, or feel the love of others. The floating boy cursed at the beast, though he was still stunned with terror, not even allowing his pitiful attempt at swimming away to continue. The teeth from the beast seemed as though it wouldn’t have to even chew , but instead, it would sever any part of large flesh if it even as so touched the blade-like bones. But Rynk’s size wasn’t even a snack compared to the size of the mouth that roared towards him, he would probably be swallowed without even the beast, itself, knowing.
Rynk closed his eyes shut to face his inevitable death. He tried not to envision the jaws coming towards him, but rather the clouds in the sky that he would soon become a part of. A deafening screech of agony right in front of him, however, sent away those thoughts, as he was seemingly drawn away from the sky that he thought of. The ship-wrecked human boy opened his eyes, watching the beast plunge itself back deep into the water with the severed cable of a harpoon piercing its large fin. Following the trajectory that the piercing weapon seemed to follow, Rynk’s eyes came across a boat stalled in the bouncing waters in front of him. There seemed to be a clamor of people on the deck of the ship, pointing down towards the water and shouting. Though, before Rynk could even call for help, he fell asleep due to the strain. His head rested on the slightly angled piece of wood, being splashed with small amounts of water every so often that would soak his hair and his chest. The waves and cries of the ocean soon left his ears and the sun’s evil glare from his eyelids, forgetting about the world and his cares.

Wood creaked around him, and there was a gentle rocking about, though not the same as it was before. The dampness of his clothes was missing as well, and there was a warm entity lying upon him. Rynk quickly opened his eyes, adjusting them to the new, dark atmosphere that was a small room constructed mostly with wood and iron. A blanket was laid over him, and he was missing most of his clothes, which were laid upon the side of the bed he was sleeping in, folded and dried. Quickly he leaped from his bed, despite the aches and pains of his limbs and stomach, though as he did so, he found the side of his face upon the floor. He couldn’t stand! Rolling to his back, Rynk found that there was a thick wrap of bandages around his right leg, tinted red underneath with blood; it stung horribly. With only his arms and left leg to work with, he strained himself to climb back onto the small cot with the blanket misplaced upon it. Finally able to wash the strained grimace from his face as he put himself back down onto the cot’s soft material, he sighed, and looked around the room. There was a simple writing desk with a few pieces of parchment upon it, as well as a quill and ink-well and an unlit, yet previously used candle; a sturdy mahogany dresser that stood like a guardian off to the side of the room; a somewhat large trunk forbidden to open by the large padlock that resided on it; and of course, the green fabric cot on which he sat upon. Rynk smiled, as it seemed obvious that death had missed him yet again, and would have to wait until later to attempt another shot at his life. Curiously, the fifteen-year-old gazed down at the white bandages around his lower leg that were wrapped and layered around his wound, then held together by a knot. Slowly, he gripped the root of the knot, and pulled on it, trying to undo it until it fell lose in between his fingers. Wrap after wrap, he uncurled the bandages using both of his hands to work with each other, one pulling it off across the top, then handing it to the other that did so across the bottom, and handing it back to the top hand to repeat the process. As blood started appearing on the white tape, the air around him seemed to scold him to return the tape into place by stinging at the wound. But Rynk didn’t listen; he continued to pass the tape from one hand to the other, revealing more and more blood-stained flesh each time. Finally, he unwrapped most of the wound, and gazed down into it. It was a very deep slice into his leg, as if someone had shoved the point of a sword into him, and then ripped downwards violently; it stung so badly. There were also obvious hints to that the wound was treated with more than just plain bandages, but also with a sort of infection-fighting potion or mixture. Content on the sight of his own wound that was still tender and bleeding slightly, he began to re-wrap the cut, however, a figure burst through the door to the room carrying a small hand-bag with the medical symbol of a potion bottle printed on it. “So, you’re finally awake,” called out the silhouette of an older woman, probably in her early twenties, “Do you know how lucky you were?”
With a candle lit in the dark room so that they could see, the medic had knelt down while she had treated the wound on his leg, and re-wrapped it with clean bandages; the bleeding began to stop now so that the natural healing of the wedge gap in his flesh could begin. In the candle light, Rynk was able to get an actual look at the woman’s features. She was elven; that was the obvious note due to her pointed ears. Her hair was black and wavy, unhindered in any style so that it lay loosely just below her shoulder-line. Her hair flared out in the front, only to be brushed to the sides of her face, exposing the tender smoothness of her forehead. The sides of which, laid in front of her pointed ears and tapered off at where her jaw ended. The elf wore a long-sleeved, white jacket with a few designed curves sown into the back that seemed to be an abstract image of a heart shape. Her gray slacks seemed like they were long as well, but her brown high-boots that they were tucked into didn’t clearly show that fact as true. They extended just below her knee with a slightly raised heel, and laced up by a white string from the bottom of the ankle, to the bow-tie below the one inch collar that folded off the top of the boot. Around her right wrist was a single golden bangle that seemed very simple to make, as it had no designs in it at all; it was an engagement bracelet.
“So, what’s your name, kid?” the woman asked Rynk, snapping him back into attention. “Rynk…” he replied lightly, still feeling the fatigue from what happened earlier. “Rynk? That’s and odd name. You must not be from around here, huh? Well, enough of that; my name is Lace.”
The young teen blinked for a moment, before speaking again, “Where are we? What happened?” Rynk asked with an utmost curious tone. The elf smiled, “We’re in the Lusht Sea, just off the coast of Grayhaven; a large fishing town.”
Rynk hadn’t heard of such place before. If it was one thing he didn’t know much of, it was world-wide geography. Alzylent had been the only place he really knew much about, everything else was either just a name, or he had no idea what it was at all. “We found you floating unconscious just before being eaten alive by that Kisteldemon; like I said, you’re very lucky we harpooned it just in time, because we didn’t even see you until that beast turned away. You were basically in its jaws!” Lace continued to explain, staring up at the boy with her blue eyes before reaching towards his cheek. “What ever happened to you out there, it sure did one heck of a lot of damage to you, we thought we were going to have to cut off your leg if we didn’t find the right potion to treat it!” Just as she finished speaking, she gripped another bandage that, unknown to Rynk until now, was placed on his face, and tore it off quickly, making the boy wince one because of the sharp pain of doing so. The elf shook her head for a moment, then ran a soft, damp cloth over his cheek, making it sting slightly. When she removed it, he noticed there was a bit of blood in the white fabric she used; perhaps he received a cut on his face as well. Replacing the bandage again, she patted the boy on his shoulder as she stood up when another figure came through the door to the room carrying a torch.

“So, he’s awake, huh? Too bad,” the deep masculine voice bellowed, stepping into the room and moving closer to Rynk to get a look at him. “I don’t see why you’re helping him, Lace. He’s Alzylentian, you KNOW what they did in the wars,” he retorted, scowling towards the boy in the cot. Lace turned to the man with a disgusted look of her own, “Flaush, the wars are over in case you didn’t notice. And what harm would an injured child like him do anyways? You’re letting all those stupid stories get to your head.”
“Then explain the weapons he had with him!” the man barked, pointing to the huddle of sheaths laid upon his drying clothes.
“Even so, he’s just a kid!” Lace exclaimed, trying to defend her patient.
“Lace, Alzylents are born to fight! They teach their young how to swing a sword the moment they know how to walk!”
“You’re still living in the past, Flaush. We’re not at war with them anymore. And besides, and patient is a patient. There is no ‘good or bad’ when you’re a medic.”
“Whatever!” the man boomed, storming towards Rynk with the ugly glare of his dark, grey eyes, “I’ll be watching you…” he muttered viciously before marching out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

Lace sighed, taking a seat next to Rynk and patting his shoulder for a moment, “I’m sorry about that… Rynk, right?” she asked, receiving a nod from him. “I hope all humans aren’t like that, are they? Flaush is the only one I’ve ever met really, with the exception of you now.”
Rynk shook his head, searching for the strength to speak. “I wouldn’t think so,” he replied, “I mean, at least my teacher wasn’t, and I hope that I am not.” The elf smiled after hearing him, then removed her soft hand from his bare shoulder and stood up, walking towards the door out of the room. “I’ll bring you some food, you’d probably be very hungry after floating in the sea like that. Sit tight.”
Of course, that was the only thing Rynk could really do, considering the pain that drifted through his leg. Rynk laid back on the cot, pressing the back of his head against the pillow that he had unconsciously slept on, and began to wonder about what he was going to do next now, because after being left out in the ocean, he had thought it would have been the last of his life. Though, now, it seemed that fate had so much more in store for him…

[Swift]

Chapter Four:
Because of Blood

By the time he was fully awake due to the hot sun burning upon him, Rynk realized that he was being sent down an ancient staircase that lead underground; he was terrified. Oddly the bitter pain that had pierced seemingly towards the bone in his leg was missing giving him the ability to walk again.

“What are you doing?! You can’t make him go alone!” Lace’s voice carried on behind Rynk as he stepped down into the darkness before him. “He’s an Alzylentian, why not?” the old musky voice replied to her much younger voice. “Bastard! He’s just a boy!” the black-haired elf replied with bitterness floating from her eyes, “He’ll die! In case you haven’t noticed, these wars were over almost fifteen years ago!”
“This mutiny, young lady? Do you not remember who exactly picked up your good-for-nothing life like you wanted? I’d advise you to just hold your insolent tongue and do as I say!”
Lace, still narrowed eyes and teeth gritting remained silent and stared back at the captain…

It had only been a day since they made land-fall on a desert-like coast. People wore lightly colored clothing from white to tan that protected them from sun burn and talked in funny accents that Rynk could barely understand; sometimes speaking a different language all-together. Grains of sand invaded his soft, yet durable leather boots and irritated the soles of his feet as he stepped down each hardened clay step. Carrying only a torch that lit his face, actively showing the day-old scar that ripped into his right cheek and his kind eyes; he merely did what he was told as he woke up today, or rather dragged from his bed. He still felt aches about his body and his mind was still tired from everything that happened earlier, but if these people had saved his life, he knew he owed them gratitude… this was defiantly enough if not much more. The child’s task was to simply retrieve something in which the others called a “star.” Rynk, noticing they were distinctively from another culture, had never heard of such a thing. When he asked about it earlier, they claimed that he had no sense about anything, but Lace was kind enough to explain it was these lights that sometimes fell from the sky. When brought upon this realization, it must have been a Silv, as the Alzylentians called them in their own language; most people believed they had some kind of special power hidden within them that could grant wishes to anyone who actually touched them—Rynk was strictly prohibited from making any sort of wish on the stone if he so valued his life, he was told.

But why? This group had been nice enough to rescue him from his doom, yet sent him into another world of horrors; they didn’t hold back on the explanation of this tomb. Already the boy donned in the lightweight white tunic, tan trousers and boots had crushed a brittle skull under his misguided step. Many people had tried to retrieve this star from the center of the temple where it laid in peace, but only their bones had been mysteriously dragged back up and piled “neatly” off to the side as if to be a welcoming site to those who traveled down the cleared path in the center of the long, dark, hallway. It wasn’t hard to admit that Rynk was utterly terrified; he didn’t want to go into this dark place carrying nothing but his orders, a makeshift torch and his daggers whose sheaths bounced slightly as his hips swayed from his step. Darker and darker the hallway grew ahead of him until soon the warm glow of the orange fire burning away a sturdy club-like stick in which he held was the only light he could see. Rynk’s breath seemed to echo as he traveled, his footsteps gliding across the sand that swept through the ground; everything was just silent despite the fact that someone might think at least small animals or insects might have found refuge in there… but all the while, he couldn’t help but feel someone was watching him. Several times the boy had stopped and checked over his shoulder with goose-bumps making his skin quiver somewhat, but saw nothing in the range of light that carried behind. Perhaps it was only the one-way filtration of air that bothered him and gave him the unpleasant feelings? That was probably the most reasonable of things, that, or it were a group of ghosts, but even then Argiri had explained that no ghost could ever directly harm a mortal; it simply was not allowed in the spiritual law… it had him curious as to how anyone would know if they were not dead themselves. His teacher went on to explain that there were actually “heretic mages” as some called them that could summon forth spirits and actually talk to them like a physical person; some even used them as weapons or tools during the great wars. It was also explained to him that Spirits, the more ‘good’ aligned of departed souls that remained in the world actually served as shields from the more evil and harmful of the ghosts to be given credit that might get them into paradise. These spirits had a second chance, so to speak; usually people who lived less than honorable lives, but not so much that they were mass murderers or notorious assassins who removed officials permanently from their thrones—something grabbed Rynk’s ankle.

With a shriek, the adventurer’s action was to immediately swing his torch down at whatever it was that had snatched him, and in the effect, a rotted hand was sent flailing aflame across the wide room Rynk had just crossed into from the narrow hallway. He hand rolled and slid towards the center of the room, where it caught a group of bandages in the center on fire; they quickly lit up the room like musky sun; the boy dropped his torch to the ground. All around him now, red, glowing eyes had opened up and stared at him. The devilish eyes belonged to a group of… he didn’t know what they were! They appeared to be human remains, bones that still held rotting flesh upon them, and the ones that still had maws salivated for his young blood. Rynk kept making panicked gasps and his pulse became rapid as the cold sound of his daggers being drawn out of their sheathes echoed throughout the dark hallways and seemed to sting the monsters’ ears. These were obviously dead explorers whose spirits had been attached to their mangled and blood-stained bones to serve as guards to the same place that had killed them. They were sluggish and limped with an unearthly balance that made them seem that much more frightening. The fifteen year old boy backed up slightly, still clutching his daggers but being reluctant to fight; he knew he couldn’t run back, but another thing made that even more obvious: another group approached from the hall behind him. With a bloody scream that he was probably sure the others heard way back on the surface, he used his only option. Trying to stay out of the grasp of the hideous creatures, he slashed at them with his silver blades using his arms’ length as his only means of survival. He could knock them back, cutting into their bloodless flesh and sometimes shattering their ancient bones, but they seemed to just keep coming at him. Again and again he slashed, ducked, spun, and ran about the room trying to stay away from them as they tried to close in onto them. d**n it! They only continued to crawl towards him with painful moans like they were dieing once more with each wobbly step they took. There were just too many of them, as evident by the fact that while he was tangling with one and just about to kick it back with the bottom of his boot, another one managed to sneak up to his side and slash into his upper arm; speckles of his blood exploded onto the ground and his arm ran with a thin layer of the fluid in streams from the cut. He called out in pain, remembering only after that he still had to fight unless he wanted more of the same thing to hit him else where. Again and again he repeated the same tactic of fending off all he could, knocking them back in the process until they managed to form a semi-circle around him with the corner or wall forming the rest of the barrier, then he would fight through the thinnest coagulation of the monsters and force them to limp towards the other side of the room. Rynk coughed; each creature he struck emitted some kind of musky dust that dug into his lungs when he inhaled it—it had the smell of rotted and burned hair and flesh as well as dead blood. While it seemed like almost fifteen minutes of this constant tactic, it had only been a short moment; the adventurer’s adrenalin was rushing, and it was as if these things were attracted to the beating of his heart. Even after he had knocked one into the flame in the center that lit the room, it got back up onto its feet like a walking torch and came back towards him with its fingers outstretched like claws.

Every minute he spent fighting them, the more there seemed to be. Were they all just coming out of the depths of the tomb after his source of life? Rynk was exhausted now; his breath was panting, and his arm still bleeding, and his heart still pumping his life force through him wildly. There was only so much he could do being how young he was, and the fact that he was not an experienced fighter farther than cutting at straw and wood dummies and the one pirate he had slain in order to save Tasha… for that moment. He was out of breath and backing up into a corner once more. Rynk knew there was no way he could fend them off any longer and he was near falling onto his knees. The undead crept closer to him in the same slow yet steady pace they had always moved in with their bony arms raised up to slash into him again and again until there was not a piece of un-severed tissue on his person. “Argiri… I’ve failed…” he whispered softly to himself underneath the moaning of the monsters.
…
“I’m sorry…”

Rynk had closed his eyes at that moment and prepared for the inevitable. Soon he would be among his teacher once more, soon able to tell Tasha that he should have been with her when she died, …soon able to she his mother and father whom he had never before laid his deep eyes on. It was only fate that decided it should end like this, only his destiny that he would become one of the bones that laid here, forgotten, wasted, mindless… In the darkness he felt around him, he was now able to see his light into paradise. It grew brighter and larger every second as he approached it; all of the worldly images around him were gone: to temple, the monsters, the terrible fear, the pain in his arm and in his heart. Yes… everything seemed so perfect and he felt so clean and pure as though nothing could ever make him stop going towards that white light. As he continued to move towards it, a set of eyes stared back at him: they were very delicate and a beautiful shade of blue that sparkled with a crystalline soul that seemed as pure as the light behind them. They became very close to him, and then there was the soft touch of skin upon his shoulder. “Rynk…. Rynk….”

“Mother…?” the boy replied in transfixion.
“No…”
“Who…?”

“Wake up.”
Rynk was suddenly torn from the light that he had followed; it just seemed to fade out of existence, but the blue eyes still burned in his sight.
“Wake up!”
The Alzylentian was shaken with a firm, yet tender nature. He wasn’t dead? Then… what had happened? What was that light he saw? He blinked curiously, trying to focus his eyes in the dim darkness once more; the bandages in the center were still burning to give an orange glow around the room—it lit up the familiar face in front of him. “Miss Lace?” the boy’s young yet maturing voice called softly, receiving a nod from the figure in front of him.
“Why are you—“
“I couldn’t let a fellow Alzylentian go off and get killed, can I?” the black-haired elf smiled sweetly to Rynk’s surprise. She was from the same country? But why then did the others treat him differently then? They seemed to despise his country through facts that he had never even heard about; surely Argiri would have told him them! …Were they really true, or only lies painted in their minds to abuse him? “But, the others… if they find out you left, they’ll…”
“Don’t worry,” the friendly face replied, “I have my ways of getting what I want,” she winked. Lace defiantly had many things she kept secret from him; there were probably many more as well. “Hold still,” her voice commanded in addition. Her palm passed from his shoulder to his wounded arm, and he saw the white light once again glow from her fingertips. Watching in awe, Rynk felt a very warm sensation glow underneath of the simple light, and his wound just seemed to sink into his skin as if it never existed; his blood dried and was washed away as well. The process took a few moments, but it was defiantly an amazing thing to see for the first time in his life. “There,” Lace concluded.

So… it was her that chased away those monsters with that light? Come to think of it now, the boy noticed that none of them existed anywhere now; they just seemed to have been vaporized into nothing—not even their smell or ghastly substance remained. Rynk stared back at his missing wound, and then to his palm realizing the energy he had lost fighting the monsters had been restored once more. “How did you do that?” he asked, bursting with curiousness. Lace backed up and extended an arm to help lift him up as she explained: “I am a Cleric, if you’ve heard of them before. My family, for many generations, had practiced the magic art of healing: a skill that has hereditary roots only in Alzylent. I would have used it sooner to heal the wound in your leg and face, but…”
“I see,” Rynk said with a thoughtful look, “So the others don’t know you’re from Alzylent? Why don’t they like us, Miss Lace? I don’t understand…”
“It was before your time, but, back in those days of hell… Alzylent had committed the greatest of crimes, but then turned around with the greatest of legends… so they were both angry and then jealous of us. The others… most of them hail from the other side of the world—that is, the side that was against ours. Most of them either had parents, or they themselves served for that monster of a king who tried to take over the entire world just as ours had; I hated them both, but we had to choose sides in order to survive.”
“But what did we do? How could our little country have—“
“We’ll talk about it later. We have to find that Silv and get out of here.”

Rynk’s eyes gazed away from Lace’s and back down the dark hallway transfixed and thinking. If there was this much danger in only the first level of the temple, then things were only going to get much, much worse.
“All right. Let’s go...”